The present invention relates to improvements in the design of upholstered furniture, to provide the manufacturer, retailer or consumer with the ability to easily vary the look of an upholstered seat as desired, at very low expense. Upholstered seats such as sofas, loveseats, and chairs, and also conversation pit or sectional seat modules are very well known in the furniture industry. It is well known to make these units in a variety of frame styles, and also to provide many possibilities of upholstery, including many grades and designs of cloth, and leather, vinyl or other materials. In most cases, the look of the furniture is established when the piece is made, with the upholstery made up to cover the frame in a substantially permanent fashion. Although re-upholstering of frames is known, such reupholstering is usually a major undertaking requiring hours of a skilled craftsperson's time.
Thus, it is usually beyond the ability of consumers to make changes of this type on their own. That is not to say that changes may not be desirable to the consumer. Many consumers encounter the situation that the same piece of furniture will be present in a room set for a casual get-together, and also for more formal occasions. Conventional upholstered furniture forces the consumer to accept compromises--a formally upholstered piece will always be formal, and a casual look will always be casual. Consumers would benefit from improvements to upholstered furniture to permit quick, easy, inexpensive changes of the look of an upholstered seat, to allow the seat to be customized for the occasion.